Accuracy: 3 m (9 ft)

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

27-Jan-2008 -- It was a sunny Sunday, 27 of January, when two of us (me and James) decided that it is a good time to visit this confluence point. We had been planning our visit a couple of weeks ago, since the dry season was in its middle (we expected good access to the bushy place), and the daily temperatures were tolerable for physical activity. For the means of transport we chose bicycles from two reasons: first, because there were no roads passable for cars in the villages and surroundings, and secondly for more fun. Both of our borrowed bicycles were made in China – "Phoenix" brand, and were in fair condition.

We started our journey early in the morning when the sun was not too hot and 29 kilometers were ahead of us. The bicycle of James got a problem with a nut, so we were forced to make breaks every 15 minutes. We passed around scattered villages with very few houses; thanks to James who is Sudanese – from the Dinka tribe - we could easily talk to local people but we never tried to give an explanation where we were going and what we were going to do there. :) The road was OK for the bicycles, but other vehicles would not succeed to pass.

The last two and half kilometers we had to walk through the thorny, dry, and flat bush, fortunately without animals. We reached the place at the midday quite easily and we found the same bush as anywhere else. :) We were lucky to get to the exact zero point, thanks to James who was holding the GPS machine and was talented to operate it well.

The way back was more exhausting, because of the heat and because we almost finished our 5 liter container of clean but hot water. We made several stops and one of them was at a place where the local people are sacrificing animals like goats or sheep to the local divinities. There were small wooden altars all around, looking like trunks of cut trees. Since the time of cycling was becoming shorter and the pauses were getting longer, we were approaching the place of our base, Marial Lou Hospital compound, very slowly.

Unfortunately, the remaining ten kilometers to the compound I had to walk and push the bicycle because of a puncture of the tire. So we came "home" at sunset, pretty tired but very happy and motivated to continue with discovering other confluence points in South Sudan, since they are so many and most of them have not been discovered yet.